Lidar (light detection and ranging) uses laser technology to make precise distance measurements over long or short distances. LIDAR units have found widespread application in both industry and the research community. The majority of “off-the-shelf” LIDAR units emit beams of light in rapid succession, scanning across the angular range of the unit (i.e. the “field of view”) in a fan-like pattern. Many LIDAR units reflect a pulsed beam of laser light from a rotating mirror to scan across the angular range of the unit (i.e., the “field of view”) in a fan-like pattern. Using a time of flight calculation applied to any reflections received, the LIDAR unit obtains range measurements, r, along the singular angular dimension, t, of the scanning fan. LIDAR units typically create the scanning fan by reflecting a pulsed source of laser light from a rotating mirror. The mirror also reflects any incoming reflections to the receiving optics. While the mirror does rotate through a complete revolution, the housing of the LIDAR unit limits the angular range to below 360 degrees. Some modern LIDAR units have reduced the angular extent of the housing to offer relatively large angular ranges, from 180 (SICK) to 270 (Hokuyo) degrees.
In many LIDAR units, the individual beams within the scanning fan are also divergent. That is, the cross section of the beam expands as it radiates outward from the LIDAR unit. Often, the divergence of the individual beams in the plane of the scanning fan matches (approximately) the angular pitch of the beams within the scanning fan, ensuring that no gaps emerge within the scanning fan as it radiates outward from the unit. The beams may also diverge out of the plane of scanning fan, allowing range information to be acquired for targets above or below the plane of the scanning fan. The divergence of the beams out of the scanning fan plane often does not match the divergence within the scanning fan plane. That is, the cross section of the individual beams is often elliptical.
While the large angular range of typical LIDAR units does allow the acquisition of range data over a wide range of space, the spatial resolution of the measurements (especially at large distances) is accordingly reduced. Even in LIDAR units with scanning fans containing a thousand beams, the spacing of the measurements can be significant at large distances. Existing LIDAR units are therefore ill suited for applications in which a relatively dense set of range measurements is desired but physical or practical restrictions prohibit close-in access to the target.